Tipping the Scales
by striped-dianthus
Summary: UP TO SHOW PROGRESS. Isabella Swan is a Volturi agent with a dark past that leaves her with a special dislike towards human-vampire relationships. Will a new mission about a vampire named Edward with a human lover heal her or break her heart again? Rated M for adult themes. On indefinite hiatus.
1. Prologue

**Hi, this is icychocolate88 (now striped-dianthus)! So anyways I decided to put KAB on hiatus today, and am going to be trying to start this story. It's been lurking around in my brain since forever, so please tell me what you think, even though this is a really short scrap.**

**1/2/2014: This fic is pretty much dead. I wrote this...a while ago and so I've lost my motivation. Now that I'm looking back at it, my writing style has improved since then (hopefully), so unless I put this through major revisions, which is unlikely, I won't be continuing it. It's not very good, but it was my first and right now only multi-chapter work (KAB was deleted) so I feel a bit attached to it, which is why I'm not deleting it. **I probably won't be writing a Twilight fanfic again now that that brief period of my life is over, but if I do I can almost guarantee that it will be better than this.** Thank you for all the support and reviews, favorites, and alerts!**

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><p>Prologue<p>

A dark blur flashed through the forest, quickly followed by another one that was equally fast if not faster. Before long the one in the back overtook the other one, and launched them self at the one in the front. They went down together with a loud booming sound.

The prey struggled in vain. Minutes later the hunter was calmly tearing the other apart and took out a lighter to burn the pieces. After making sure the fire would burn itself out, she turned on her heel heading back the way she came.

She approached the cave silently, her footsteps making no noise on the jungle floor. As she walked through the tunnel she noticed blood streaking the walls and her eyes portrayed disgust. Nearing the end of the cave, she slowed down and saw the bloody heap of human bodies.

She carefully examined them, making sure to see if any one of them had survived. Satisfied, that they were all dead, she threw down a bomb that was set to go off in five seconds.

Five seconds later the cave blew up, destroying all the evidence. The hunter watched a few hundred meters away and for just a few seconds her tawny, amber eyes shone with unshed tears. Then she blinked, and the cold, iron mask was back in place.

When she was on the private jet back to Volterra, she called on her phone to report back to the Volturi.

"This is Agent 30192 reporting. The target was successfully taken out."

Then she snapped the phone closed, and leaned back on the headrest, not even noticing that she had crushed the phone to bits.

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><p><strong>Tell me what you think! It might be a bit confusing in the later chapters so prepare yourself.<strong>


	2. Chapter 1: Opening Old Scars

**For some reason whenever I get an idea in my head, and I want to type it out it never turns out the exact way I first imagined it. *sigh* I've decided I'm going to start rewriting part of KAB, though I have no idea why I'm saying this on a different story. Okay, back to business. Hope you enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 1: Opening Old Scars<p>

My relationship with the Volturi was…odd to say the least. Unlike other agents in the Volturi I was sent out on missions solely focused on humans and vampires. Most likely because if it wasn't I wouldn't accept it. That was another thing. I had a choice between whether or not I wanted to accept the mission or not which was allowed for me only.

I mentally snorted. It was only because I had a unique mental shield that no other vampire in the world possessed, and Aro was interested in it. The only other vampire that had a similar gift was another member of the Volturi Guard named Renata who had a physical shield. It was a bonus that, because of my mental shield, they couldn't use Alec or Jane to torture me if I misbehaved. It was also pretty funny how pissed off they were when they heard that there was someone who was immune to their powers.

I walked down the tunnel in Volterra that led to the Volturi's castle in a sour mood. It always freaked me out in Volterra even though I would never admit it. The darkness and old European décor in the castle was just the icing on the cake.

When I got to the throne room, I bowed respectfully to the three leaders. I ignored the other vampires in the room, even though I felt their glares burning through the back of my head if that was even possible. They never really liked me. Not that they had said that outright.

_Moody bunch of motherfuckers._

"We have a new mission for you," Aro said smoothly. I waited as he held up a folder. "If you choose to accept it after I tell you the basics, this folder has the information you need." I didn't respond, so he continued talking.

"It has been brought to our attention that a vampire of the Olympic Peninsula coven has recently acquired a human _girlfriend_, and that she is aware that they are vampires."

The steel-cold expression remained on my face but inside, emotions were coursing through me. I barely heard what Aro said next because for the first time in the long lifetime as a vampire my ears were ringing, and I felt close to passing out from the shock.

"Do you accept?" he said, as blandly as ever.

Before I even knew what I was doing my mouth opened and the word "Yes" came out before I could stop it. If I could have, I would have smacked my hand to my mouth as soon as I realized what I said.

_What the hell had possessed me to say that?_

As it was, I managed to keep anything from showing on my face, and I was damn proud of that considering the circumstances.

When I had accepted Aro's face had remained impassive as ever as if I hadn't said anything at all.

_Seriously does nothing shake the man?_

The thought was pushed into the back of my mind when he held the folder towards me. I reluctantly went forward to get the papers.

When I accepted, it was as if I was signing my own personal death sentence. As we went through the rest of the usual formalities as protocol dictated I was finally, _finally_, able to leave. I gladly went out as fast as I could possibly leave politely.

Once I got inside my car I quickly revved the car until I was pushing 200 mph. I arrived at my flat in Italy in record time.

Hours later when all my pent up emotions were released by way of flying objects and _lot's_ of damage to the furniture, I finally calmed down enough to stop screaming. I was glad of the fact that the neighborhood I lived in was fairly isolated, so the neighbors wouldn't have heard me screaming bloody murder, and phone the cops or something because of a psycho on a crazy rampage.

I noticed the folder I had brought home, and eyed it as if it was a disaster just waiting to happen.

_I was probably right._

I started banging my head on the desk, mentally berating myself for accepting the mission until I heard a loud crack as the desk split in half.

_Oops._

Okay, this was getting seriously ridiculous.

_Man up, Bella._

I drew in a deep breath of air to help calm my nerves.

_Aw, fuck it all._

I grabbed the folder and opened it so I was staring at a picture of a pair of golden eyes. So they were vegetarian vamps.

_Well, duh, if they weren't they would have drained the human dry by now._

I winced a bit at my dark sense of humor. Eventually as I read through the file, my agent instincts took over as I assessed each of them.

From what I had read, the vampire coven that was living in Forks was an extremely talented because they had a fortune teller, mind reader, and an empath. They were also living like a 'family' of sorts and had regular interaction with humans, and one of them was even a doctor. I was definitely impressed.

Vegetarian vampires were rare enough, but if one of them was a doctor they had to have an extreme control over their blood lust. To be able to actually be near humans without giving in to the thirst by itself required a considerable deal of control in itself. Even more shocking was how _big _their coven was. Most vampires had a solitary nature. The only one to rival it was one I had heard of in Denali who also stuck to a vegetarian diet.

As I read on I learned that five of the vampires were attending high school. As I flipped through their profiles I noted significant details that would be important later.

My breath caught when I realized that the Volturi had also included a profile of the human whose name was Annabelle Swanson. She looked a whole lot like I had before I had been changed. My mind swirled and memories surfaced no matter how much I tried to fight them back.

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><p><em>Flashback:<em>

_I was sitting in the back of a classroom when _he _came in. The bell rang almost as if on cue when he walked in confidently, as if he didn't have a care in the world._

_The teacher was, to put it clearly, pissed._

"_Do you care to explain the cause of your tardiness, Mr. Miller?"_

"_No," the student answered cheekily._

_The teacher was taken aback by the straightforward answer, and it took a moment for him to formulate a reply._

"_Yes, erm, well, you will be serving detention on Friday for your lateness," the teacher answered lamely._

"_Yes, sir," he answered with a salute before the teacher could get his bearings in place and figure out that he was mocking him._

_As he turned to go to his seat, I couldn't help the gasp that escaped my mouth. He was beautiful to put it simply, but even that seemed inadequate to describe his beauty. He had brown hair that appeared almost auburn in the right light, and golden eyes that usually had a playful light in them, but could turn serious at the drop of a hat. His skin was chalky pale, and his eyes had purple shadows under them as if he was suffering from a night without sleep._

_My gasp had been so silent I had barely heard it, but the boy had turned towards me as if he had, and winked at me._

_The blood rushed to my face, and at that moment I knew that he wasn't human._

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><p>As soon as the flashback ended I shot up out of the chair, wrenched the window open, and jumped out. As soon as I hit the ground, I started running into the nearby forest.<p>

The memory was fresh, as if it had only taken place yesterday, instead of years ago and the wave of pain it brought me was almost unbearable.

Running always helped make me forget everything, and calm me down and in this case there was no difference.

My feet were silent as I practically flew through the forest, covering miles of the dense growth of greenery.

Eventually, I had to stop as the burning in my throat became unbearable. An almost musky smell wafted through the air that I recognized to be mountain lion. I made a 180˚ turn and let my instincts take over, and at that moment I reveled in the thrill of the chase.

I was the predator, and they were the prey. I felt the sheer power I had, as my body flexed and coiled, ready to spring.

The mountain lion was in sights and I was on it, before it even realized what happened. It tried to fight and lashed out at me, but I dodged it neatly, not wanting to ruin my clothes, and landed on its back. I sank my teeth into its neck, and it cut through like butter before the warm blood flooded into my mouth.

Once the lion was drained, I let it fall and got up. I found a few deer a few miles away before my thirst was finally sated.

I made it all the way home and into a bed I didn't really need before reality finally set in. As long as I was running or hunting I could pretend like nothing had happened, but now I had to confront it head on.

I curled up on the bed in the fetal position. The blankets that were wrapped around me didn't provide any warmth, even though I already knew they couldn't.

Not for the first time, I hated what I was. The ice cold skin and the unnatural beauty I had were just a haunting reminder of what I had lost.

Try as I might, I couldn't any blame on _him_ for what had happened. I knew what I was getting into as soon as I fell in love with a vampire.

I felt another ache in my chest as soon as I thought of that. I had refused to admit it in the beginning, and even now I was trying to forget but deep down inside I knew that I had fallen in love with him.

It was ridiculous that my heart ached, because my heart had stopped beating when I had completed the transformation to become a vampire. But… it did.

A dry sob racked my body, but no tears fell. And they never would.

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><p><strong>Wow, I quite liked the end of that. I listen to music while writing, so I needed some sad music for this one near the end. Please review! To make it absolutely clear, the vampire Bella fell in love with in the flashback is NOT Edward. It's a different vampire.<br>**


	3. Chapter 2: A Blessing and a Curse

**Thanks to everyone who put this story on their favorite/alert list! ^_^ I appreciate you taking the time to read this story. I just noticed I forgot to put the summary in the chapters. I usually do that, so I guess I've been lazy. Hope you enjoy Chapter 2!**

**Summary: Isabella Swan is a Volturi agent with a dark past that leaves her with a special dislike towards human-vampire relationships. Will a new mission about a vampire named Edward with a human lover heal her or break her heart again? Rated M for adult themes.**

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><p>Chapter 2: A Blessing and a Curse<p>

_Previously:_

_I felt another ache in my chest as soon as I thought of that. I had refused to admit it in the beginning, and even now I was trying to forget. But deep down inside I knew that I had fallen in love with him._

_It was ridiculous that my heart ached, because my heart had stopped beating when I had completed the transformation to become a vampire. But… it did._

_A dry sob racked my body, but no tears fell. And they never would._

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><p>Days passed, and I did nothing but stay in my bed. Eventually, the pain had ceased into a dull throb and I sat up in one fluid movement.<p>

Because I hadn't used them in a week, my muscles _should_ have protested at the sudden movement, but they didn't. A blessing and a curse at the same time.

I turned my phone on and found three missed calls from the Volturi. Since they were probably going to be pestering me about why I hadn't started the assignment yet, I decided to ignore them. I had no idea why I had turned my phone on in the first place, since the Volturi were the only ones who bothered to call me and if they did, they only had long rants to bitch about discipline or some shit more often than not.

After what had happened, I found no need to create emotional connections with others, since they only weakened you. Lord knows what resulted last time I had let someone in. Yes, I was perfectly fine being left alone.

I planned on getting the mission over as soon as possible, so I searched around my house until I found the old file again without much difficulty. I had no idea how I was going to finish the assignment, but since I had accepted there was no going back.

There wasn't much left to read about, but there were two last points of interest that made my eyes pop open in shock.

The first being that the human appeared to have a mental shield of sorts that was similar to mine.

_This was bad._

The only reason I was still alive was because of the uniqueness of my gift, which kept Aro from ordering other vampires to kill me. If this _human _did have the same gift as me, it meant that the chances I had of dying were greatly increased.

I gripped the arm of my chair harder, careful not to break it.

The second point of interest was that the human was the vampire Edward's singer. My mouth curved upwards at that. Fate had dealt an interesting hand this time. It was even more shocking that they were now in a relationship, and the vampire hadn't killed her as soon as he caught a whiff of her blood.

I hadn't been a vampire long enough to come across someone whose blood sang to me yet, but it was hard enough for me to restrain myself around normal humans' blood. It seemed I was dealing with vampires who had extreme restraint on their blood lust.

The chances I had of being able to defeat the coven if it resulted in a fight were slim to none. Don't get me wrong, I could hold my own in a fight but I wasn't cocky enough to think I could take on several vampires at once, three of them who had gifts.

I let out a breath that I wasn't aware I had been holding, and steeled myself to accept my fate. If worst came to worst, I wasn't afraid of dying by a long shot. My self-preservation instinct had disappeared once the person whose life had literally been my sun had died.

I know that just sounded over the top and drama queen-esque but it was, unfortunately, true.

Imagine a life of eternal darkness with no purpose.

_The hellhole that is my life._

I gave a sigh and flipped my phone open to inform the Volturi that I needed a private jet to fly to Forks, Washington.

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><p>As I got down from the plane, the pilot was only too eager to offer his assistance in helping me down the steps. I accepted even though I didn't really need his help. I shot him a quick smile, careful not to show too much teeth or fang.<p>

My super-hearing made it possible for me to hear his heart stuttering when I smiled at him. It made it all the more harder for me to restrain myself from tasting the human blood that was mere inches away from me.

I imagined myself rising up on my tiptoes a few inches, and sinking my teeth into his neck as his rich blood flowed into my mouth.

As my eyes turned black from the blood lust, the human pilot's heart started beating faster in his chest. It was considered his body's normal reaction since he was most likely sensing the fact that I was dangerous.

_I was dangerous._

That thought and the fact that I had been seriously considering murdering an innocent human filled me with such disgust directed towards myself that I was able to say a quick Goodbye and make a hasty retreat.

Later, in the hotel room that the Volturi had provided, my head was between my knees and I was mentally berating myself for almost losing control.

I mean seriously, the Cullen's could handle being around humans on a daily basis and I lose control at the first human I see. For fucks sake, one of them is a doctor and another has a freaking _human_ girlfriend whose blood _sings _to him.

Not for the first time I feel completely and utterly disgusted and ashamed at myself for not being able to stick to the vegetarian diet. Thankfully, I've never completely lost control and I'm proud to say I've never tasted human blood. Unfortunately, there have been many close calls.

Too many.

_And you might not be so lucky next time._

I tack the last part on myself, knowing that it's true. I also feel completely unjustified anger at the Cullen's because I bet that none of _them _had ever lost control.

I groan and throw myself on the bed, hearing the springs protest at the force of my not-very-graceful belly flop. I flip myself over, and start counting every single ridge on the ceiling until darkness falls, just because I'm bored.

I finish the count at 14,102 and turn my head sideways to look at the clock on the bedside table. To my deep regret it's only noon, and I have nothing else to do.

An idea pops into my head, and I contemplate whether or not I should act on it or not. After a few hours I decide that fortune teller in the coven has probably already seen me coming, and it didn't make a difference whether I did it now or later.

I look out the window to see if it's sunny or not, and am relieved to see that it's a cloudy day. Though, from what I'd researched on my laptop on the plane ride here, Forks was covered by a near constant cloud cover.

It was the most likely reason why the vampires had decided to live in Forks. That, and the abundant wildlife here was good for hunting bear and deer.

I changed into the normal clothes I wear during a mission, which were camouflage and made out of a fabric that is hard to tear and resistant to extreme temperature. The sole less shoes don't make any noise on the ground. I also had a mask on, so my identity would remain hidden. Personally, it was a bit too close to Naruto for me.

I reached for the door handle, but I hesitated, and make a snap decision to crawl out the window instead. If I walked out on the street in the middle of the day in the clothes I'm wearing now, I might as well scream "I'm a vampire from the Volturi" at the top of my lungs on the highest building. And from what I had heard, gossip travels fast in a small town.

Before long, I'm running in the forest and the tension left my shoulders instantly. The surroundings reminded me of the forest near my home in Italy.

During my flight, I had found a detailed map of Forks in the file I had gotten when I accepted the mission, so I had a basic knowledge of where everything was.

Luck was on my side because when I got near the high school, the last class of the day was coming to an end and students were pouring out of the buildings.

I hung around near the outskirts of the forest waiting where I had a clear of the building, hiding behind a bush. Demeaning, but necessary.

Suddenly, I saw six students walking together. I recognized them immediately from the file Aro had given me. They matched the photos in the file perfectly.

As the human was walking, she somehow tripped on a perfectly flat surface, and would have fallen face first on the hard concrete of the parking lot if the vampire, Edward hadn't caught her.

The human's cheeks turned pale pink, and I could hear the brawny vampire in the coven laughing loudly. I recalled that his name was Emmett, and the blond vampire whose name was Rosalie seemed unaffected and acted as if nothing had happened. The vampire named Alice was jabbering on about a shopping trip she was planning, and bouncing around acting like she was high on something while her mate, Jasper, was acting calm, as if he was used to this.

I was dumbfounded. Not only because the human was weaker than any normal human, but also by the vampires.

My mouth was gaping open and my mind was going a hundred miles an hour, trying to make head or tails of the unusual behavior of the vampires.

They acted as if they were normal humans. None of the vampires I had ever known in my entire existence had ever laughed or been excited about anything. All I had known were icy personalities that only talked to me when necessary.

All of them… except _him._

An unimaginable wave of grief washed over me, and the blond vampire named Jasper doubled over at the same time with his hands over his stomach. The others immediately started asking him what was wrong.

He lifted his head, and looked directly at me as if he could see me from behind the bush. It only hit me then that he was an empath and had felt my pain as if it was his own.

_Shit!_

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><p><strong>There was absolutely NO dialogue in this story. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but I don't really want to make a habit out of it. The next chapter will <strong>_**definitely **_**have more conversation in it. Not much, but more. I'll be writing it up ASAP. Please review! :)**


	4. Chapter 3: Reality Check

**I just noticed a pretty dumb spelling mistake in Chapter 2. Lol. I don't feel like changing it right now, but maybe later. Here's Chapter 3!**

**Summary: Isabella Swan is a Volturi agent with a dark past that leaves her with a special dislike towards human-vampire relationships. Will a new mission about a vampire named Edward with a human lover heal her or break her heart again? Rated M for adult themes.**

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><p>Chapter 3: Reality Check<p>

_Previously:_

_An unimaginable wave of grief washed over me, and the blond vampire named Jasper doubled over at the same time with his hands over his stomach. The others immediately started asking him what was wrong._

_He lifted his head, and looked directly at me as if he could see me from behind the bush. It only hit me then that he was an empath and had felt my pain as if it was his own._

_Shit!_

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><p>I took off running as soon as I remembered his gift. I didn't turn around to see if they were following me, but they most likely were.<p>

Since they were in a parking lot surrounded by humans, they couldn't immediately start flat out running without raising suspicion, so that gave me another few seconds lead.

My brain immediately started calculating the factors that would give me the best possible outcome of my slip up.

I made a large loop, and when the tracks crossed over, I took out a small perfume bottle that I always carried on me.

I'd discovered it on a mission a few years back, and I had spent the next few hours in the bathroom dry heaving. That was how bad the smell of it was, but it was able to overload a vampire's sense of smell so I could make a quick getaway.

I sprayed some of it in the air, and fought back the urge to throw up. I had only been forced to use it a few times as the last reserve since I prided myself on being able to not make amateur mistakes like this.

I couldn't believe I'd let emotions come in the way between the mission! It reeked of being a novice, and now they definitely knew that a vampire had been spying on them if they didn't before.

I grabbed the official Volturi black cloak from my suitcase. I might as well pay them a visit now instead of later, since I'd already given up the element of surprise.

I hated wearing the cloak since it made me look like _them_ too much, but the fear that it instilled in vampires across the world could either benefit me or get me killed. Besides, it wasn't as if I could mess things up any more.

I looked in the mirror to make sure the hood was covering my face, and leapt out by way of the window again.

The cloak caught in the wind, and billowed behind me. I couldn't keep the grimace off my face.

I reached the house of the vampire coven, and was once again surprised. It seemed like things kept surprising me during this mission.

It was a classical white mansion that looked like it belonged in another time era, yet it fit in perfectly with the forest.

I approached the door cautiously, until I was sure that a vampire jump up from behind and ambush me. It had happened to me before, so you could never be too sure.

The door was opened by a blond vampire that I hadn't seen earlier today, but I remembered his profile.

"Welcome to our home," he said, politely. I offered him a frigid smile that didn't really matter since my face was hidden.

I entered cautiously, and was blown away. It was one huge room with glass walls most of the way around that let in what little light they could.

I didn't relax my posture as all the vampires were in a circle loosely surrounding me. I immediately started calculating all possible escape routes if it came down to that.

No one spoke after the greeting earlier so I decided to start things off.

"As you have probably already concluded, I am from the Volturi. We do not wish to fight against you unless as an absolute last resort and hope that you will negotiate with us peacefully. Please keep in mind that if you attack me at any point, you will be directly invoking a war against the Volturi and rest assured that the consequences will be great." I said it all in monotone voice that I had perfected.

After a heavy pause the blond vampire who appeared to be leader spoke.

"Ah, yes, we will certainly abide by your wishes. We would also like to come to a peaceful conclusion that would please both sides."

It was an appropriate answer, but most of the other vampires in the room wore death glares directed at me that were a polar opposite. They looked like they hated my guts, but, after all, I did just basically threaten to incite war between them and the Volturi, so the reaction was completely justified.

The vampire named Esme offered me a seat, but I politely declined.

"Let's get down to business now, shall we?" I said, jumping right in. "We have found out that one of you has a human girlfriend, and she is aware that you are vampires. Is that true?"

I directed the question towards the bronze-haired one called Edward.

"Yes, it's true," he answered quietly.

"Then you know that you've committed a serious crime," I replied. "You have only two options now: kill her or turn her into one of us.

He flinched at my harsh tone, and I felt a small stirring of pity.

"And if we don't?" the brawny one asked boldly. Or stupidly if you looked at it from another side.

"Then the Volturi will be forced to take matters into our own hands," I answered coolly.

Edward seemed to recover when I said that and asked, "How much time do we have to decide?"

"Until the end of this month," I said, naming the normal length of time. For some reason, they seemed taken aback at that.

All of a sudden I noticed the smell of human at the door. Everyone else in the room was too shocked to react at first.

Then, they all acted at once and jumped for the door at the same time, making a wall between her and me.

I was amused to say the least. That is, until Emmett took it upon himself to physically restrain me from moving an inch.

"Kindly remove yourself from my person," I said in a voice that was sharp enough to cut glass. He hesitated, but then slowly did what I asked.

I then purposefully moved closer to the door, and they all seemed to bunch closer together.

"Move aside," I said, in a voice that left no room for argument. None of them moved. I huffed, exasperated.

"Oh for god's sake," I said under my breath, and then pulled down the hood of my cloak so they could see my golden eyes.

"Now can you let me through?" I said, sarcastically. Without waiting for an answer, I took advantage of their momentary second of surprise to push them aside and open the door.

The human was standing in front of the door, with her hand raised to knock again. When she realized that I was standing in front of her, blood rushed to her face.

My throat burned a bit, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.

"Hi, it's so nice to _finally_ meet you," I said in a cheerful voice. The vampires behind me stiffened when they heard double meaning in my words, but the human was unaware.

I pulled my mental shield back from my mind for just a second to show my thoughts to Edward.

_So it's true. Ignorance really is bliss._

Then, the mental shield snapped back in place. If he was shocked, he hid it well.

"Come on in," I said, standing aside so she could enter. As soon as she saw Edward, her heart stuttered and then picked up double speed.

I couldn't stop my eyes from dilating to black, so I stopped breathing. That helped a bit, though not much.

All of a sudden the human was talking to me, so I had to take a breath to answer. "My name's Annabelle Swanson. Are you a vampire too?"

I choked on air. To say I was surprised at her question was an understatement.

"Err, yes," I said, finally.

"Are you from Denali?" she asked, with a tiny hint of jealousy in her voice.

_Denali? She must be talking about the vegetarian coven living there._

I didn't think about that much longer, because I was in disbelief that she was that comfortable around vampires.

"Don't you know that vampires are dangerous?" I said, desperately wanting to know the answer to my question.

"You can be dangerous if you want to, but you won't hurt me," she said confidently. My jaw dropped, and I felt anger rising in me.

"How can you be so sure?" I said in a calm voice that barely disguised my anger.

"If you were going to kill me you would have done it already," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I saw red.

"Listen here, we _are _dangerous. You've been thinking about vampires like their living some sort of fantasy, but we're not. We _can_ lose control any time. Just you being _near _us is dangerous. You're human. Never forget that. I could have killed you so, _so, _easily when I saw you, and nobody could have stopped me. Lose the rose-colored glass and face reality. Humans and vampires can _never_ be together," I spat the last part out right before I left, leaving a roomful of stunned vampires and a human in my wake.

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><p><strong>This was four pages on Microsoft Word, but it seems so short when I publish it. Hm. Anyways, please read and review!<br>**


	5. Chapter 4: High Strung

**Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this story. Here's Chapter 4! This is the E POV of Chapter 3. Hardly any swearing for him; after all he **_**was**_** born in the 1700s and is supposed to be a 'gentleman'.**

**Summary: Isabella Swan is a Volturi agent with a dark past that leaves her with a special dislike towards human-vampire relationships. Will a new mission about a vampire named Edward with a human lover heal her or break her heart again? Rated M for adult themes.**

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><p>Chapter 4: High Strung<p>

E POV

To normal humans who didn't know my family as well as I did, they would have thought that we were all completely relaxed as normal, but I knew better.

I'd been with them long enough to see the tension that almost permeated the air around them. Even Emmet didn't joke around as much as usual, and if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would have scarcely believed it.

Not for the first time, I felt guilty for bringing this over my family.

_We don't mind, Edward. You deserve to be happy too._

I shot a grateful smile towards Jasper. Of course he would have felt my emotions.

I knew it was selfish for me to not be able to leave Annabelle alone. Still… I was uneasy about how all the classic romance novels talked about feeling sparks and love at first sight. I felt a tingling whenever we kissed but I'd always thought it would be… more.

Great, now I was thinking like some adolescent girl who believed that her prince would come and sweep her off her feet.

No, I was in love with Annabelle. Of course I was… right?

_My visions are still blurry Edward._

I pushed my previous thoughts away for a later time, and focused on a more serious matter.

A week ago, Alice's visions had become blurry and unclear. It was the reason for my family's discomfort. We were so used to depending on her gift that if something like this happened it would, of course, cause reason for panic.

There was a distinct possibility that the Volturi had somehow found out about Annabelle, and were sending someone over here to deal with it.

The thought that I had been the cause of it all made me nauseous. My family and I had taken extra precautions that someone was with Annabelle at all times.

We were all high strung and ready to jump at anything. I quickly made a sweep of all the thoughts around us, searching for anything unusual.

_Oh my god, the Cullens look so hot today!_

_Ugh, who do they think they are walking around like they own the school or something?_

_I wonder when Mike's going to ask me out._

I cringed at the last thought and tried to tune out the lewd thoughts that Jessica Stanley was now imagining about her and this other boy.

All in all, there was nothing unusual.

"Edward, are you okay?"

The tension in my shoulders decreased a bit by the concerned tone of my girlfriend. I offered her a tight smile to try and reassure her. It came out more like a grimace.

"Everything's fine," I said in what I hoped was a casual voice. From the disbelieving look on her face, it didn't look like it worked.

I hadn't told her about the Volturi because I didn't want her to worry. What could I say anyways?

_Hey, it turns out that this super powerful group of vampires that are considered vampire royalty in our world has found out that you're my girlfriend, and may or may not be coming over to destroy us. Just thought you'd like to know, love. Now let's get to biology, there's a pop quiz today._

Yeah, that would turn out real well.

All of us were operating on auto pilot, and before long Annabelle was bound to realize that something was up and demand to know what it was. Hopefully, it was sometime far, far in the future.

We were all trying to act like we did normally, but it wasn't working so well.

When Annabelle tripped after school, Emmett laughed like he normally would but it came out sounding slightly hysterical. Alice was talking too fast about having to go shopping on the weekend. To put it simply, we were all on the verge of our breaking point.

Suddenly, Jasper doubled over as a wave of pain hit him. Alice was at his side in an instant asking him what was wrong with the rest of us following milliseconds later.

He looked up, and I followed his gaze. I saw a flash of movement behind a bush, and I hesitated, torn between staying with Annabelle or chasing the stranger.

Alice knew what I was thinking about at once.

_Go. Rosalie and I will stay with her._

I didn't stop to think about it any longer and started sprinting across the parking lot, hindered by the humans that were standing all around us. After all, I couldn't well explain somehow ending up on the other side of the parking lot in the span of mere seconds without raising suspicion.

As soon as I was in the cover of the trees, I began following the scent trail at full speed. I heard footsteps behind me, and guessed that it was most likely Emmett.

We had only been tracking the scent for a short time before a smell, the likes of which I had never encountered before, overloaded my delicate sense of smell. It was god-awful.

I skidded to a stop and tried to find the place where the trail started again, but the stench was making it near impossible. Emmett was beside me moments later.

"What the hell?" he said with his usual amount of eloquence, covering his nose with his hand trying to somehow block the offending smell. It was no use. The smell stayed with us no matter how hard we tried to get rid of it the entire time, until we were forced to give up.

"I hate to say it Edward, but it looks like we don't have any choice," he said, breaking the silence.

I growled, and raked my hand through my hair in frustration, not wanting to give up our only clue to finding out who was tampering with Alice's visions and causing utter chaos in my family without us even knowing a single goddamn thing about him/her.

I hated not knowing. Call me what you want, but because of my mind-reading gift, I was always uneasy if something was out of my control, and I couldn't do anything about it.

From his thoughts, I could tell that Emmett was worried about me. I sighed and unwillingly acquiesced to returning home.

When we got home, everyone was anxiously waiting for our return. As soon as she saw us, Esme rushed over and asked us if we were okay.

"We're fine," I said shortly, before going upstairs to change out of my clothes that still reeked of that horrible smell.

Downstairs, Emmett was telling them what had happened. I walked down the stairs in a bad mood.

The rest of my family members immediately started asking if I was okay, each clamoring loudly in my head until I got a headache.

"I'm fine," I growled out. "I don't want to talk about it."

I immediately felt bad about it, but they understood. A thought suddenly occurred to me.

"Where's –?" I didn't get to finish the question when Alice cut me off.

"She's at La Push," she said, not bothering to disguise her disdain for the place. I nodded, knowing that she would be safe protected by the shape shifters. I didn't like asking the mutts for favors, but I would do anything to keep Annabelle safe.

_I knew nothing good would could out of Edward befriending a human._

A low growl made its way out of my chest as I glared at Rosalie. She just shrugged, and looked the other way.

_You know it's true._

I could feel my anger getting the better of me, but all of a sudden I started to calm down. I looked towards Jasper, and he gave me a halfhearted smile.

The sound of faint footsteps started approaching in the distance. Someone was coming, but I remained relaxed, courtesy of our resident empath, Jasper.

_Whatever happens, we will always support you Edward._

The same thought radiated from both Carlisle and Esme, and I was grateful for my family's understanding. Well, at least most of them. We settled down to wait, listening to the footsteps get closer and closer.

When he/she stopped in front of the door, Carlisle was up in a flash and opening the door. They exchanged greetings, and eventually the person walked in.

I couldn't tell the gender of the mystery person, since they were wearing a black cloak that concealed their face. However, it did confirm our suspicions that the person had been sent from the Volturi. The three figures that were shown on Carlisle's painting of the time he spent in Italy wore something similar.

As usual I reached towards their mind to find out their thoughts. There was nothing. I frowned, thinking that they might have moved, but the person was in the same spot as before. I tried again. Silence.

It couldn't be possible, it just couldn't. Was there someone else besides Annabelle who could resist my mind-reading? Maybe my gift was just getting weak. No, it couldn't be. I _had_ to find out why there was only silence when I tried reading this person's mind.

The Volturi agent was talking, but I couldn't pay attention. I saw Emmett's fists clench together, as if he was restraining himself from punching something.

I paid more attention and I could instantly tell that it was a female by the sound of her voice. It felt good to actually uncover something about her, even if it was a simple fact. For some reason, I felt a strong urge to unravel the mystery that was the person standing in front of me.

Suddenly she was talking to me, so despite the amount of calm that Jasper was sending towards me I felt nervous. This could make it or break it. I answered honestly.

"Yes, it's true."

She had a fast reply.

"Then you know that you've committed a serious crime. You have only two options: kill her or turn her into one of us."

I visibly flinched at the idea of turning Annabelle into a vampire. I immediately rejected the idea of killing her, but to turn her into a vampire and damn her to this life… I hadn't expected any other options, but when it was said out loud I knew I wouldn't be able to do it.

I saw the retort forming in Emmett's mind right before he said it.

"And if we don't?"

I wanted to groan at that. A war between the Volturi and us could have started just because of that one sentence. I saw Carlisle and Esme exchanging worried looks out of the corner of my eyes. We were walking on thin ice. Fortunately, she wasn't offended by that. At least not that much.

"Then the Volturi will be forced to take matters into our own hands."

I didn't even want to think about what she meant from that.

Gathering up my courage I ventured to ask, "How much time do we have?"

"Until the end of this month."

Earlier, it had all seemed like a dream. Like some nightmare that you would eventually wake up from. When she named the deadline, it was as if everything was locked in stone.

Through the daze, I smelled the familiar scent of freesias. At first, I thought I was hallucinating until I heard the beating of a heart. Me and the rest of my family reacted at the same time without thinking, making a barrier.

It didn't take long for my mind to catch up with my actions.

"Kindly remove yourself from my person," she said icily.

Emmett hesitated before letting her go. Everyone's thoughts were running along the same line.

_Shit!_

_This is bad._

_Well, this isn't good._

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><p><strong>Sorry about the fact that the plot didn't really move that much in this chapter. It does help later in the story though, so it wasn't all for nothing. Reviews encourage me to write faster! ^_^<strong>


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